To be fair, three hours with Mick Foley (and his daughter Noelle) as they search for Santa Claus at Santa Village, interspersed with highlights of the WWE’s most memorable Christmas moments will not be everybody’s idea of fun.
I certainly couldn’t claim it was mine.
That said although this is a collection with flaws and more than a couple of matches and moments you won’t want to see twice it does have its moments and at the very least has the novelty value of not simply being the same old faces and matches the WWE usually wheels out on compilations.
Real top quality in-ring action is thin on the ground. Kofi Kingston vs Tyson Kidd from 2011 and the “Miracle on 34th Street” match between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose from 2014 are the pick of the bunch. A “Tajiri Claus” vs “Bubba Claus” match is fun considering the limitations of being dressed as Santa bring, as is Dolph Ziggler vs Fandango in a “Christmas Present on a Pole Match”.
Less favourably memorable are the likes of Randy Orton Vs David Otunga, a Holiday Battle Royale involving Hornswoggle and Mark Henry & Damien Sandow fighting off in a Battle for Christmas.
There’s also such encounters as Mankind Vs Santa Claus and JBL Vs Mick Foley that are more extended promo’s/angle’s than matches and a Santa’s Little Helper six Diva match is little more than an excuse to dress up the ladies.
Curiosity value is piqued by Ted DiBiase’s evil Santa Klaus having a match and there’s also a fun Bobby Heenan and Roddy Piper altercation from 1989.
One drawback is obviously the limited time frame the WWE can draw from for a Christmas special and this means that up to three matches/segments from the same shows appear, including (somewhat bizarrely) a random November episode of Smackdown hosted by Mick Foley.
The matches and segments are linked by Mick and Noelle’s aforementioned hunt for Santa and if you like the typical Foley humour you’ll likely get a kick out of them.
Its hard to say this is an essential collection. But by virtue of it featuring a number of underexposed matches and segments rarely (if ever) seen on other collections it has a novelty value that might well light up your Christmas Day morning. Though I’d personally suggest you might find it a little more fun later on once the Sherry has kicked in.
6 out of 10.